What’s New with JoyRx Music
JoyRx Music Hospital Partners*
*as of December 14, 2021
Early in the COVID-19 crisis, pediatric hospitals faced staffing shortages and programming cuts due to the global pandemic and were struggling to find engaging and meaningful activities for young patients. Children’s Cancer Association staff knew that JoyRx Music was uniquely positioned to meet that critical need, and, together with families and hospital partners, we created a new branch of music medicine programming. We now call this Digital-Live, which complements our On-Demand music offerings, available to kids and families 24/7 at JoyRxMusic.org.
These hospital CCTV concerts, virtual bedside interactions, and one-on-one music sessions at home or in-hospital are led by our incredibly skilled and talented JoyRx Music specialists and are tailored to the unique needs of each individual hospital and child.
Read on for an inside look at the many ways our talented music specialists surround kids and families with the healing power of music, virtually — from Oregon to New York, and everywhere in between.
Virtual Bedside Music
With the help of Child Life Specialists (or the KidBot), JoyRx musicians go room-to-room via iPad to provide music medicine to hospitalized kids in need of a lift.
“The JoyRx musicians are so fun and easy to work with. They build rapport quickly and easily with patients and families, and they do so virtually. It’s a joy for me to work with everyone at JoyRx and we are so grateful for this organization and the services you provide during this time of social isolation.” – Hospital Partner in an anonymous survey
Direct-to-patient Sessions
CCA’s staff musicians also work with parents directly to schedule one-on-one virtual music sessions with children isolating at home. These sessions often take place weekly via Zoom, and kids can learn an instrument, request their favorite songs to be played, or simply talk about music with someone else who shares their passion.
“[JoyRx musician] Cameron is so supportive and kind and patient with David. He’s worked with a lot of kids in the past, so he knows if David’s not feeling up to it, he’ll just play music or they will talk about music together, or even just practice finger placements. David’s always very excited and in a great mood when he gets to play the guitar with Cameron.” —Racheal, David’s mom
Live Virtual Concerts & Musical Fun
JoyRx Music works together with hospital partners to offer large-group concerts and musical games like SINGO (musical bingo), streamed live to kids’ hospital rooms via CCTV.
“I appreciate the team’s time and talents, and I love that JoyRx Music is the first show of the week on Mondays. The concert sets a joyful presence and tone for the week for patients and staff!” —Jessica, Child Life Specialist at San Antonio Children’s Hospital
Facebook Live
JoyRx Music volunteers perform monthly on Facebook Live, delivering music medicine to sick kids and our entire community!
Pre-recorded Music Medicine
JoyRx musicians record special videos for kids who request them — sometimes they play a favorite song, or send a happy birthday message, or record a lullaby to help soothe kids to sleep.
JoyRx Musician, Kelsey, surprised David with a cover of one of his favorite songs, which inspired David, a talented drummer, to play along during his stay at Children’s Hospital Orange County.
On-Demand Music Medicine
Young patients can listen to exclusive performances, sing along with our JoyRx musicians, or learn a new song anytime they want at JoyRxMusic.org. In addition, our JoyRx Music team will curate a playlist of pre-recorded performances for hospitals to stream on their CCTV, ensuring more kids can access the healing power of music 24/7.
Making an Impact
In a recent survey, 94% of hospital partners felt JoyRx Music provided a high-quality program for kids and families. One staff member shared that JoyRx Music specialists “are flexible and understanding of the hospital’s dynamic environment to meet the needs of not only our patients but also our team,” and another said, “Every session has been wonderful and well-received.”
“Our transition to Digital-Live allowed CCA to meet a critical need for hospital partners, and demand increased significantly,” said Mark Ferdig, Vice President of Programs at CCA. “At the beginning of the COVID crisis, it was unfathomable that CCA would be providing music to 20 hospital partnerships, let alone that our programs would reach more than 10,000 kids in FY21 (only 1% below the number of kids we were able to reach in FY20) — yet here we are!”
Plans for the Future
While we’re eager to once again share the Joy of music with kids and families in person, our top priority is to ensure this vulnerable population stays safe and protected—which will require continual adaptation of our programs. CCA is in close contact with hospital partners across the country to prepare for the day when we can finally resume in-person services.
Once visitor restrictions lift, JoyRx Music will resume live music sessions in hospitals while continuing to provide Digital-Live programming to hospital partners across the country. We look forward to reconnecting with families at Randall Children’s Hospital and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and the launch of in-person programming in Austin, Texas when it is safe to do so.
To meet this increased demand for music medicine nationwide, CCA has recently hired our very first Digital-Live Music Specialist, Kelsey Kirchenbauer, who is based out of Nashville, Tennessee, and we have plans to add one more music specialist to the Digital-Live roster.
“There is so much to be excited about for the coming year,” said Mark. “Reconnecting with our families in ways we couldn’t for the past year and a half, resuming live, in-person JoyRx Music in Portland, and launching our live music service in Austin. By the end of fiscal year 2022, I expect CCA to be strongly positioned to further expand our JoyRx Music program — digital live, on-demand, and in-person – across the country.”
You can help more kids experience the emotional benefits of JoyRx by making a donation today.